Men's Golf Takes Aim at Second Straight SEC Title
4/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 16, 2009
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - -
The No. 10 Alabama men's golf team returns to the Frederica Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga. to defend last season's title at the Southeastern Conference Championships April 17-19. The Crimson Tide will look to repeat last year's performance in which the team shot an 852 (-11) on the par-72, 7,217 yard course that resulted in UA's second SEC championship.
The Tide will face stiff competition in its title defense headlined by No. 1 Georgia. Six teams enter the tournament ranked in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index top 20, and all 12 teams are rated in the top 60 nationally.
Alabama comes in as the third highest ranked squad behind Georgia and No. 7 Florida with No. 11 Arkansas, No. 13 South Carolina and No. 17 LSU also cracking the top 20.
The Crimson Tide will send out the same starting five that finished tied for fifth at the United States Collegiate Championship its last time out. True freshman Bud Cauley will play in the No. 1 spot for the Tide. Cauley, who leads the team with a 71.62 stroke average, is coming off his first collegiate win at the U.S. Collegiate where he tied for medalist honors with a 4-under-par 212.
Senior Matthew Swan, a three-time All-SEC selection, is in the No. 2 position with redshirt freshman Hunter Hamrick playing as the three in the UA lineup. Swan finished third at the SEC Championships in 2006, while Hamrick is second on the team in scoring average at 73.57 and won all three of his matches to help the Tide win the consolation bracket of the Calloway Collegiate Match Play Championships in March.
Fellow redshirt freshman Hunter Slatton is the Crimson Tide's No. 4 with senior Matt Hughes making his second start in the SEC Championships after being a part of the Tide's winning squad last year. Hughes tied for 15th in last year's tournament.
The event will begin at 8 a.m. CT with the Tide scheduled to tee off on hole 10. Live stats for the tournament will be available at golfstat.com.
